Updates on the new house!

Well things are coming right along with our new house. We had a meeting with them this week and we are set to close on either August 12th or 13th! So just in the nick of time before Sweet Baby James gets here!

As far as our current house goes, the showings have definitely picked up! We anxiously await an offer, but continue to remind ourselves that this is all in God's timing and not our own.

On a funny note, the people in our new neighborhood have nicknamed our house the "Preacher House". Apparently several of them have walked through and seen all the verses that we wrote on the walls and thought that it was weird. Now they call it the Preacher House. We got a good laugh out of that! I can't wait till we are all moved in and get to meet all these new neighbors! Ha!

Here are some new pictures of the house. It's so fun to see the progress.

Trusting in Him

What does that even look like? As I sit here and want with all that I am to constantly trust the Lord and know that he has a plan, I find it very difficult to do at times. This past week we were delivered some difficult news in our family. And although at the end of last week I struggled to understand what God was up to, I sit here today knowing that the only place that I can put my trust is in Him. I will never understand his timing or ways on this side of life. I don't even think that I would want to. But what I do know is that God promises to continually meet us where we are at and he promises to "show up". One verse that continues to always bring me comfort is Proverbs 3:5-6:
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight"
My prayer is that in the weeks to come and the uncertainties that follow that I remember this verse. That I continue to seek Him and walk in His ways. Life will always throw things our way that we think we cannot handle and that are hard, but I don't want to get through all the hard times and say I wish I had trusted you Lord. Instead I want to say faithfully that I did trust Him and be able to give Him the praise that he is so worthy of!

Bless this house

So this past weekend we invited a few close family friends and family out to our new home to Bless our house. Everyone spread out and took the time to write bible verses and blessings on the framing of our new house! I cannot begin to describe to you how amazing and powerful it was. As we stood in Sweet Baby James' room and wrote God's word on his walls and then moved to other rooms throughout the house. The Holy Spirit was definitely amongst us that day and it was something that I will not forget. I went through and took pictures of all of the verses. I've included some of them here. Our prayer is that our home will continue to be filled with the Lord and that we will always seek him as we go through life.

Belly Time

Here I am at 26 weeks. Looking large and in charge!



I go to the doctor today, so I'll be sure to post updates on how James is doing!

New House in Progress

The new house is definitely in progress. We are really pleased with how quickly they are moving. It is looking like our August time frame for it to be done will be met! Here are a few pictures that we took last week of the progress. Last time we talked to them they told us the second floor is now framed and we have a roof!!! The pictures include the outside view as well as shots from the basement! More pics to come!

Our little angel finally has a name!

It almost feels weird to say that Manny and I actually decided on a name for our little one! After months of going back and forth and trying to settle on the best possible name for him we finally made a decision.

The name we picked for him shares many family ties and is one that I hope will suit him quite nicely once he is here.

His name is.....

Manuel James Rodrigues

His first name will be the same as his daddy and his Grandpa. His middle name (which is what he will go by) is after both his Grandpa and his Great Grandpa on my side. One day when he is old enough to understand I can't wait for him to know and be proud of the fact that he is named after some amazing men. If he grows up to be half of the men that these men are then we will be blessed.

So Sweet Baby James it is! Everyone has already come up with nicknames for him. But for the record it will be James, not MJ, not Little Jimmy, not Jim....Just James! Here I come monogramming machines! :)

Can't wait for Sweet Baby James to be here in less than 100 Days!

My First Baby Shower

I had my first baby shower this past weekend. My sweet Mother-In-Law threw me a shower in Rhode Island. Lots of friends and family came out! It was such a great day spent with everyone. The food was amazing! I truly felt loved and so did the little guy! (we still don't have a name for him :)) Here are a few pictures from the weekend.





We also went to a super fun Italian wedding for some of our friends. It made me wish that I was Italian! We had a great time celebrating with everyone.


In baby news we really don't have much to report. Our little guy is still super active and growing daily. We have our next monthly appointment next week and then we will start going every two weeks. Time is just flying by! It's hard to believe that he will be here in 3 months! We are hoping to finalize a name for him soon. We'll be sure to post it when we figure it out! :)